Dr Theopolis 1:1 scale from Buck Rogers

[Revell-Fan]

Hi fans!

This is gonna be something easy: Dr Theopolis from Buck Rogers. The pattern I'm making is supposed to fulfill two tasks at the same time: First, it will be rescaled to become an accessoire for my Lego-Twiki. Second, it is supposed to be turned into a life-size prop.

The original prop was very crude and simple and is an ideal candidate for another paper model.

Here are the first WIP pics of the different layers:



paper back drop



mouth and eyebrows



eyes



shell

The white circles mark the positions of the lights.

CU soon!

 

[Rhaven Blaack]

This is going to be SO VERY COOL!!!
I am GREATLY LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS!!!
I guess, I will have to find some LEDs for this project!

 

[Revell-Fan]

I guess so, too! ;-)

acrylic / plexi glass layer (grey):



The final model / prop will be 9" / 22,86 cm in diameter.

 

[zathros]

Didn't watch buck Rogers much, so I had no idea what you were talking about, for the uninformed, like myself, i have posted a picture.

 

[Revell-Fan]

If you wanna build it with lights you will need 18 red LEDs (5 - 7 mm), 2 white LEDs (10 mm), 8 warm white LEDs (5 - 10 mm).

 

[Revell-Fan]

Wow! Thank you, Zathros! I didn't have this pic in my archive...

This shows one most important thing: The shell is NOT GOLDEN. It is a mix of gold and green metallic which changes its tone depending on the surrounding light. I'm wondering if I'll be able to find a similar piece of metallic card for that...

 

[Ron Caudillo]

I always though this would be an interesting model to design. Lots of room for detailing and such. Thanks for sharing.

Best Regards,

 

[ASC Mclaren]

R-F,
That is VERY cool! I'll be watching this with much interest. Maybe I'll be able to re-scale the good Doctor to 1:18?

 

[Revell-Fan]

Hello, Ron!

Great to see you here! Believe it or not, the original prop had absolutely NO detailing on it except for six ICs, two resistors , two capacitators and some wire! Nearly all components were flat pieces (which makes this prop ideal for papercrafting, BTW). If you take a closer look you will notice that Theo was made in a hurry, from the cheapest materials available. The cutouts were messy and they even glued the ICs to the backdrop upside down!

Theo looked that good on screen because the resolution of TV screens were relatively low in the late 70es/ early 80es and the flickering of the lights and the reflections caused by the acrylic front plate hid the imperfections very well. I guess a BluRay release of the show would be very revealing...

I'll try to match the original as closely as possible, however, my lines and cuts will be straight and precise!


To ASC: Making it in 1:18 scale would be quite a challenge. I'm looking forward to seeing how you are going to shrink the LEDs to make them fit..!

 

[zathros]

Sometimes, you stumble on stuff on the Internet in the weirdest ways. As far as "shrinking "LED's", remember, you can mount LEDs in a Lath or similar device and take then down, as long as you don't go too thin and expose the metal parts, or leave too little plastic , and oxygen gets in, they they go "poof". They can be shaped, and the ends milled to make them reflect differently. Facets can be put on, polishing them with jewelers rough makes them really shine.

 

[ASC Mclaren]

Hmmmmm: http://www.kingbrightusa.com/gapg1608.asp?gclid=COHeivf2rr0CFQqEfgodMJwAJg

 

[Draegor]

I loved this show back in the day, although I'm a bit sad that disco roller-skating never did catch on as the entertainment of the future.

 

[Revell-Fan]

@ASC: Good point! ;-)

@Draegor: Let's get funky!

Andromeda (aka the Godfathers of Teletubbies )

...

My God, I LOVE that episode!!!!

 

[Draegor]

Wow! Great find Revell-Fan!

 

[eagleclaw4935]

Great idea doing Dr. Theo,all the Buck Rogers fans should love this one.Biddy! Biddy! Biddy!

 

[bgt01]

This is the kind of stuff I live for in this hobby! Somebody get me a Doctor!

 

[Revell-Fan]

Doctor(s) House(ing) , modelled in SketchUp:

 

[Revell-Fan]

Some "skin" has been applied:

 

[Rhaven Blaack]

This is really starting to take shape rather nicely!!!

 

[Ron Caudillo]

Hello, Ron!

Great to see you here! Believe it or not, the original prop had absolutely NO detailing on it except for six ICs, two resistors , two capacitators and some wire! Nearly all components were flat pieces (which makes this prop ideal for papercrafting, BTW). If you take a closer look you will notice that Theo was made in a hurry, from the cheapest materials available. The cutouts were messy and they even glued the ICs to the backdrop upside down!

Theo looked that good on screen because the resolution of TV screens were relatively low in the late 70es/ early 80es and the flickering of the lights and the reflections caused by the acrylic front plate hid the imperfections very well. I guess a BluRay release of the show would be very revealing...

I'll try to match the original as closely as possible, however, my lines and cuts will be straight and precise!


To ASC: Making it in 1:18 scale would be quite a challenge. I'm looking forward to seeing how you are going to shrink the LEDs to make them fit..!

Thanks for that! I've always enjoyed yours posts and projects. This is turning out quite nice. Great bunch here!

Best Regards,